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Let’s Get Ready to Rumble Part Three

Posted on August 26, 2013 by alchemyrider

Rumble 3

The third installment of Van’s Rumble Cycle Challenge had to be delayed.  The date for this event had been 16th June.  An unanticipated need to close the shop at 3 Two Square  took precedence.

Twenty two participants met at VUBC‘s new shop in Kampung Tunku.  The early birds had time for a teh tarik, courtesy of Michael.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Each team of two or three had to ride to eight pit stops.  The challenge was to find each pit stop, in order, and once there to complete one or more task to earn points.  Winning required a combination of a fast finishing time and as many of the forty points available.  Amril covered the rules, regulations and safety advice, and then sent us on our way.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Some got away quicker than others.  Mark and I took a while to figure out how to get to the first pit stop . . .

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

The first stop was at a McDonald’s, where any customer wearing a red t-shirt was asked to pose for a photograph.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

At the second pit stop we had to find and photograph a particular shop lot.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Mark and I had our mechanical problem of the day at this stop.  Mark’s rear tire was under-inflated.  I had a pump.  The tire went from being a bit flat to being fully inflated to being completely flat after the valve core unscrewed along with the pump hose.

We got going again fairly quickly and soon got the photograph and telephone number required at pit stop 3.

Pit stop 4 involved finding the price to three items on a restaurant menu.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

The fifth stop was at the bus stop nearby.  We had to get the full name of the stop, and figure out the fare from that stop to another stop.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Pit stop 6 was at a Light Rail Transit station.  I didn’t yet know what the tasks were for this stop, so was very intrigued to see this as we arrived.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

This was a collection stop.  Three different types of leaves (which you can see at her feet), three different types of flowers, three 10¢ coins, and three strands of white hair.

I was suddenly very popular!

Mark and I got it badly wrong trying to find pit stop 7.

Rumble_3_Route Annotated

The destination was the KK Supermart, Dataran GLOMAC.  There are a number of places with GLOMAC in their names.  We elected to ride to one of the wrong ones.  A U-turn and some lost time later we arrived at pit stop 7.

We got through the task, which was to buy exactly RM1.90 worth of items, very quickly.  Mark went straight for a bottle of 100-Plus, which he knew cost RM1.90.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

The task at pit stop 8 was to photograph a vehicle number plate that had a ‘0’ and a ‘5’ in it.  Followed by a dash back to the finish line at the VUBC shop.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

All members of a team had to be in the shop to present their answer sheet and collected items before the clock stopped.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Then it was time for a cold drink and smiles all around as we waited for the results to be tallied.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Rumble 3 Done 2

It was a close contest.  A few seconds here and a wrong answer there separated the top three teams.  Chang Pak Loong and his team mate won the prizes for finishing first.  They got a goodie bag of Knog products and Bern helmets.  Here they are flanked by Vanessa of VUBC, and Wei Yeng of Wheeelove, who donated the Bern helmets.

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Photo courtesy of Albert Koo

Thank you everyone at VUBC for organizing a wonderful series of events.  We are all looking forward to the 2014 edition of the Rumble Cycle Challenge.

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Let’s Get Ready to Rumble Part Two

Posted on May 14, 2013 by alchemyrider

“Hill Chasers” was the second installment of Van’s Rumble Cycle Challenge.  We met at the VUBC shop at 7.30am to sign waiver forms and size up the competition.  After a safety briefing we headed off for our first look at the track.

Rumble Hill Chasers Briefing

Amril and his band of organisers had found a closed stretch of freshly-paved road not far from the VUBC shop.  All we had to do was clear away some loose stones and other rubble.  It wasn’t long before we could lay down a finish line and start racing.

Rumble Hill Chasers Course 2

We were in teams of two or three riders.  Each team’s result was determined by the time of the second rider across the finish line.  We had so much fun charging up the hill that we decided to ride the hill twice and take the average time to determine the winning team.

Rumble Hill Chasers at the Finish Line

Here we all are after our two runs.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Co.

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Co.

Then it was back to the VUBC shop where Ray worked out the final results.

Rumble Hill Chasers Results Calculation

Leong and his brother were a team of two, but they had enough firepower between the two of them to win overall honours.  On a mountain bike and a foldie no less.  Here are the happy winners with the event organisers:  Ray, YC, Vanessa and Amril on the right.

Photo courtesy on Van's Urban Bicycle Co.

Photo courtesy on Van’s Urban Bicycle Co.

There was also a prize for the fastest individual.  That went to a roadie.

Photo courtesy on Van's Urban Bicycle Co.

Photo courtesy on Van’s Urban Bicycle Co.

We are all now looking forward Rumble Cycle Challenge Part Three.  The Scavenger Hunt on 16th June.

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Let’s Get Ready To Rumble *

Posted on April 15, 2013 by alchemyrider

Ladies and Gentlemen . . .
Van’s Urban Bicycle Co is running a three-part cycling event: The Rumble Cycle Challenge.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

 

The first segment was the Alley Cats Race. Ten teams of three riders each arrived at the Van’s shop at 3 Two Square to register for the race. We all received cool t-shirts for turning up.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

Everyone paid close attention as Amril gave us a briefing about how the race would work.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

Each team had a sign off card and a list of five checkpoints. Once all three riders were at each checkpoint there were activities to be completed to the satisfaction of the marshals before they would sign the card.  The winner would be the team that brought a completed sign off card back to the start in the fastest time.

The first challenge was to figure out the order in which to visit the checkpoints, and more importantly, how to get to them. Google Maps to the rescue.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

Chon and I were fortunate that Mark was on our team. He was the only one amongst us who knew his way around that part of Petaling Jaya.

Our first stop was just around the corner at K3K Benta Kaya.

Chon volunteered to do the first activity, not knowing what he was getting himself into. Which was eating three pieces of you char koay, without drinking anything to help wash the fried salted dough down.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

It was apparently a bit of a struggle (Mark and I had to wait outside the restaurant,) but Chon got through it. He didn’t want to see another you char koay that day!

Our next stop was 1.3 km away at a small restaurant across from the AMWAY Malaysia headquarters.

Can you guess what the task was?

Alley Cats Pic 06

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

PSY has a lot to answer for. That’s all I can say.

Having done the horsey dance we headed off in search of the Kampung Tunku Primary School. Once there we had to give a tree a group hug while declaring our love for it. Then we had to pick a mathematics problem out of a hat. We picked a particularly complicated problem. It is a good thing smart phone calculators were allowed.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

There was more Oppa’s Gangnam Style required at the Wisma FAM checkpoint.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

More in keeping with the headquarters of the Football Association of Malaysia, we also had to answer some questions about the national football team.

Our last checkpoint was at the Auto Amcar showroom. Our task was to find the car marked with a Van’s logo, and to get one of the Van’s stickers from inside that car. There must have been a hundred cars to search.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

Chon found the Van’s sticker. Then came part two of the tasks. Count the number of yellow cars on the lot.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

This checkpoint had a third task. I now know what the Harlem Shake is.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

We had the five signoffs that we needed. Mark took us back to 3 Two Square by the shortest, but steepest route.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

Though not as steep as the route some teams took to get back to the start point.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

Mark’s excellent route selection and Chon’s ability to eat quickly got us back to the start in the fastest time of the day. Which earned us bike swag.

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

Everyone had a lot of fun. More importantly everyone stayed upright on their bikes despite the wet roads. No one got hurt. Kudos, congratulations and a big thank you to Van’s Urban Bicycle Company for organising a great event. In particular Ray (left) and Amril (right), and their team of excellent volunteers who made this event run without a hitch (two of whom are shown here),

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

YC (holding walkie talkie),

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

Michael (on emcee duty),

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

and the eponymous Vanessa (right).

Photo courtesy of Van's Urban Bicycle Company

Photo courtesy of Van’s Urban Bicycle Company

Stay tuned for the report on Part 2 of the Rumble Cycle Challenge: Hill Chasers.

* With thanks to Michael Buffer

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